


Ripped Seams

by 0takuconvention



Category: Metal Gear
Genre: Eli doesn't know shit but he still tries, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Past Child Abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-23
Updated: 2019-02-23
Packaged: 2019-11-04 02:59:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,954
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17890247
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/0takuconvention/pseuds/0takuconvention
Summary: Eli realizes something's wrong with his new friend, and decides to investigate.





	Ripped Seams

**Author's Note:**

> Breathes in.  
> So this is my first fanfiction I've written in literally ten years jesus christ
> 
> This is set after Mission 51, Kingdom of the Flies

It had been five hours since Eli's kingdom had fallen, but five hours since Tretij had saved his life. 

Eli was still in shock that the thin redhead somehow got them away unscathed as napalm had begun hailing around them. Then again, this was the kid that had made the Sahelanthropus move as if it were a mere puppet, so this kid is still full of surprises.  
They had moved from the island to avoid the bombs, knowing full well it was going to be all demolished. They had taken refuge upon a raft, rather, a few pieces of driftwood and leftover rope tied hastily around it by the mind of Tretij, who was getting weary (He had flashed an image of a sleeping child in Eli's mind to let him know.) Once it was far enough into the blue waters, they both relaxed.  
Eli still had so many questions, but the smaller boy didn't seem to speak, or rather, think, English. Curiously enough he could respond to English, which made Eli wonder if either Skullface or that Lab had taught him. Either way, Tretij's mind was quiet for the time being so questions were off limits.

It was almost sundown when they reached the nearest Island, another remote location, the warm sandy beach a somewhat welcome sight to the both of them. Eli, shedding his flightsuit for his regular shoddy clothes, flopped upon the warm sands, kicking his feet up on a rock. His rest was short lived when his stomach growled, sitting up with a grumble. He eyed his acquaintance as he shoved a hand in his pocket for his knife. "I'm gonna go look for food. You start collecting firewood, got it?" He pointed his knife haphazardly towards the floating figure, who only nodded with a soft wheeze from the mask. He made a huff of approval, puffing out his chest, proud to know that he was still in charge before sauntering off into the thick jungle.

The moon was starting to peek out from behind calm waves when Eli came back, holding a dead rabbit by the scruff of its neck, noting how there was already a fire set up under a clump of trees, a familiar masked figure hugging their knees and attempting to draw idly in the sand as if deep in thought. "Oi! Dinner!" The older boy shouted, startling the psychic, who shot what Eli could only assume was a glare from behind thick orange lenses before flashing an image of a megaphone in the clone's mind to let him know he was being too loud. The blonde gave Tretij a shit eating grin as he plopped down next to the other, setting the carcass down in front of them. The blonde could feel the other's stomach drop as he turned his masked face away.  
Giving it no thought, Eli carefully flayed the skin before carving into the meat, piercing large chunks with a stick into a crude kebab, holding them out to Tretij who then made them float over the open campfire. Tired eyes watched the flames lick and cook the booodied flesh before him, reminslding him of his village he had destroyed. The boy shuddered. 

Once the meat was done, they were carefully placed on a plate of palm leaves. It wasn't the most appetizing of dinners for sure, but it would make do. They both stared down at it before Eli cleared his throat awkwardly. "Hungry?" The former labrat responded quickly with a shake of his head, hugging his knees a bit tighter. The blonde only shrugged, "More for me then." Before grabbing a stick and digging in ravenously. 

After his third kebab he eyed Tretij, who was watching him as always, orange lenses glinting against the flames. Eli realized he had never seen the psychic eat or even really speak. Sure, he grunted sometimes in approval when Eli was ordering him around, but that was all he had heard from the younger. Eli thought back on mother base that he might've been mute, or could only speak Russian or Czech, but the fact that Tretij was never seen eating or drinking and being dangerously thin gave Eli a pang of concern, brows knitting together. As if like clockwork Tretij sat up a bit straighter, as if uneasy. Eli narrowed his eyes, knowing the younger had been reading his mind. Well- no more beating around the bush, time to get straight to the point. "Give me your mask." Eli held out his gloved palm expectantly. The redhead had frozen in place like a deer about to be hit by a semi, before violently shaking his head. A red x popped into Eli's mind, which only made him press further, holding his hand out closer.  
"I'm your boss, you have to do what I say."  
Another red X.  
"We can do this the easy way or the hard way. Give. Me. Your. Mask." There was a pause after that, then once again, another X formed in his mind. That's when Eli lunged forward, thanking the stars he was close enough to Tretij that he could land such a tackle without being thrown telekinetically. There was only grunts and flails in protest as he held the auburn haired boy down, long leather sleeves and belts slapping Eli frantically as he started looking for the mask's clasps, both minds becoming chaotic and jumbled due to Tretij's distress. Once he had found the clasps, he quickly undid them, practically ripping the mask away. Eli looked down, eyes widening in disbelief.  
Beneath the mask was a heavily scarred and burned face, the boy's nose had been missing and semi-fresh lobotomy scars peeked out behind curly red bangs, his wide silvery-grey eyes were rimmed with dark circles due to crying and lack of sleep. But what shocked Elijah the most was a half Glasgow-smile on his left cheek, haphazardly sewn shut- yet it didn't stop there- they had gone even further and sewn the boy's mouth shut tightly enought that it might cut into his lips if he dared move them too much, shown by old cuts behind the thread. "How... how did this happen? Why?" A pause and a stillness of their mental link, Eli moved off of Tretij, who sat up. Tretij then reluctantly showed him in a series of clips seen through his eyes- 

Subject Tretij Rebenok had been screaming and biting any doctors that had come near, too drugged to use his mind to defend himself. They put him in an operating gown and placed him in a wheelchair, arms and legs bound down to the chair with belts. He had read the minds of the doctors who were wheeling him to a small operating room, they were tired of his ceaseless screaming, and whatever they were to do might boost his psychic skills anyway.  
They placed him on the table, and he managed to bite down hard upon the arm of an unsuspecting doctor. The man hissed and recoiled, slapping the boy. "" The doctor snarled, gesturing to the nurse to bring him a needle, poking the boy with it. Tretij screeched, flinging his head back, weak powers making medical supplies go flying, a scalpel slicing his own cheek open in protest. He was going to fight tooth and nail to not be tested on again, even if it meant dying. The doctor only laughed. "" He poked more needles and IV's into the labrats arm, letting the boy bleed out on the operating table. The last thing he remembers before blacking out was the metallic taste of blood in his mouth.

Tretij Rebenok woke up in his cot, head swimming and mouth and cheek burning and aching. The doctor from earlier was looming over his bedside, a cruel smile on his face, holding a small mirror in front of him. Tretij stared at the face in the mirror, a large sewn gash on his left cheek, and his lips stitch shut as if he were a doll. Tretij was horrified, only whimpers could escape his lips, tears brimming those huge, grey eyes of his. He already thought himself as scary after losing his nose and burned badly by the fires of the plane crash, but this was a level of nightmarish cruelty. <"You see boy? This is what happens when you don't behave. Now you will have to speak using your mind.>" The doctor chuckled, walking out of the cold dark cell, leaving Tretij to sob silently.

-

Eli blinked when the memory was over, taking a shaky breath, looking over to his companion. Tretij was now hunched over, hugging himself and shaking, tears streaming silently down his pale cheeks. The older boy was unsure of what to do, he's never been one for comforting at all, the most he'd do was tell the other child soldiers to keep their chin up and act like a man- but Tretij was no soldier, he was a traumatized former test subject and a child, small and weak without his powers. Eli rubbed the back of his neck and scooted closer, placing a firm hand upon his back, causing the psychic to flinch. "H...hey. You're okay now. You're uh- you aren't there any more. No more needles and no more tests. You're safe." He spoke surprisingly quietly. Tretij looked up at him, those teary grey eyes still so wide, kind of like a bug's. The psychic nodded, looking back down at his knees. The silence lingered between them, Tretij leaving Eli alone with his thoughts.  
Once he figured what he was going to do, he pulled a small canteen out of his pocket, along with a smaller pocket knife , the younger boy looked up curiously, wondering what his friend was doing. It dawned on him once he finally read the other's mind, panicking as Eli drew close, holding Tretij's scarred face by his jaw. "Hold still. This'll be better than eating through a tube yeah?" The younger could only whimper, trembling in the child soldier's grip. The knife neared close, Tretij closing his eyes tightly. The sound of thread being cut and a searing pain upon his lips made the psychic scream, telekinetic force throwing Eli away from him. The redhead covered his mouth, sobbing violently now, curling up on the sand. Their mental link was static and painful chaos.  
The older sat up, a bit dazed. "Wasn't done yet, stupid." He grumbled. He got up, shrugging his jacket off and sauntering back over to the now crumpled figure on the ground. He undid the cap for the canteen, dousing a corner of his jacket on water. The child soldier once again held the tear streaked face of his friend up, carefully dabbing at the blood and removing the thread from his mouth, earning him a pained whimper. Eli cursed himself over his limited medical knowledge. He kept dabbing the wounds till they stopped bleeding. "Consider this me repaying you for saving my ass several times." Eli held out the canteen to Tretij, urging him to drink. "Don't care if you drink the whole thing, you need it." The redhead gingerly took it before downing the water thirstily and savoring each drop. Once he was done he sighed, resting his head upon Eli's shoulder, exhausted. The child soldier blinked and looked down, and awkwardly wrapping an arm around Tretij's shoulders. The psychic looked up, his wide eyes having a new spark of joy in them while his scarred mouth turned upwards into a small smile. A soft, hoarse whisper of a voice sounded from him, "спасибо." Eli was astounded- that was 'thank you' in Russian, one of the only words he knows.  
Maybe this friendship could begin to bloom.


End file.
